1985 Kansas City Royals season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Kansas City Royals
season = 1985
misc = AL Champions
AL West Champions

current league = American League
y1 = 1969
division = West Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform
ballpark = Royals Stadium
y4 = 1973
city = Kansas City, Missouri
y5 = 1969
owners = Ewing Kauffman
genmanagers = John Schuerholz
managers = Dick Howser
television =WDAF-TV
(Denny Matthews, Denny Trease, Fred White)
radio =WIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)|The 1985 Kansas City Royals season ended with the Royals' first world championship win over their intrastate rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals won the Western Division of the American League for the second consecutive season and the sixth time in ten years. The team improved its record to 91-71 on the strength of its pitching, led by Bret Saberhagen's Cy Young Award-winning performance.

In the playoffs, the Royals went on to win the American League Championship Series for just the second time and the World Series for the first time. Both series were won in seven games after losing three of the first four games. The championship series against the Cardinals was forever remembered by umpires' blown calls: one that cost the Royals a run in the 4th, and a "blown call" in Game Six by umpire Don Denkinger that let the Royals tie the game.

The team was managed by Dick Howser in his fourth and final full season with the Royals.

Offseason

*January 18, 1985: Danny Darwin was traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Texas Rangers with a player to be named later to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Jim Sundberg to the Kansas City Royals. The New York Mets sent Tim Leary to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Kansas City Royals sent Don Slaught to the Texas Rangers. The Kansas City Royals sent Frank Wills to the New York Mets. The Texas Rangers sent Bill Nance (minors) (January 30, 1985) to the Milwaukee Brewers to complete the trade. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/darwida01.shtml Danny Darwin Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*February 25, 1985: Jamie Quirk was signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/q/quirkja01.shtml Jamie Quirk Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]

Offense

MLB team leaders|float=right
R=108|R1=George Brett
H=184|H1=George Brett
2B=38|2B1=George Brett
3B=21|3B1=Place|#Willie Wilson
HR=36|HR1=Place|3Steve Balboni
RBI=112|RBI1=George Brett
SB=43|SB1=Willie Wilson
BA=.335|BA1=Place|2George Brett
Notes=Place|#Led the majors Place|1Led league Place|2Second place Place|3Third place Place|TieTied

Pitching

MLB team leaders|float=right
GP=84|GP1=Place|#Dan Quisenberry
IP=237.2|IP1=Charlie Leibrandt
W=20|W1=Place|2Bret Saberhagen
K=158|K1=Bret Saberhagen
CG=10|CG1=Bret Saberhagen
SHO=3|SHO1=Danny Jackson & Charlie Leibrandt
SV=37|SV1=Place|1Dan Quisenberry
ERA=2.69|ERA1=Place|2Charlie Leibrandt
Notes=Place|#Led the majors Place|1Led league Place|2Second place Place|3Third place Place|TieTied

Still rehabilitating from a tendon injury in 1983, Dennis Leonard remained out for most of the year—pitching just two innings of relief in September.

Regular season

The Royals opened the season at home on Monday, April 8, in a three-game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays. In his second straight opening day start, Bud Black faced off against the Blue Jay's Dave Stieb and allowed only a single earned run on four hits as the Royals won 2-1. Stieb held the Royals scoreless for 6⅔ innings before giving up the game winning runs on a double by Willie Wilson. Black exited the game in the eighth inning with two outs after giving up a single and a walk. Dan Quisenberry closed out the game for his first save of the new season. The attendance of 41,086 was the highest of any home opener and wasn't exceeded until the 2005 season. It was also the second highest of any of the Royals' regular season home games in 1985.

The Seattle Mariners had the strongest start in the division—winning their first six games at home by sweeping the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins. But the Mariners quickly faded into sixth place as they lost twelve of their next thirteen games. After their losses in Seattle, the Athletics returned home to win seven of their next nine games, and on April 21 were in a three-way tie for first with the Mariners and the California Angels. However, a seven-game losing streak at the end of April pushed them down into sixth place on May 1 and five games below the Angels. At the end of April the Royals had a record of 11-8 (.579), but they had fallen two games behind the Angels who had finished the month with a six-game winning streak and had a 14-7 record.

The Royals began the month of May by losing seven of their first eight games, culminating in a 11-3 loss on May 11 at home to the New York Yankees. The team was three games below .500, in fourth place and 5½ games behind the Angels. Three days and three wins later, with a record of 15-15, the Royals would not drop below .500 at any time during the remainder of the season. (But they would have a .500 record as late as July 10 when they were 41-41.) With two 6-game winning streaks, the team won thirteen of their next seventeen games to enter a first place tie with the Angels on May 29, with a record of 25-19. This stretch of games was highlighted by three complete game shutouts pitched by Brett Saberhagen, Bud Black, and Charlie Leibrandt in which they allowed only a combined 8 hits and 4 walks. And despite being on the road, from May 15 through May 17, the three starters each threw a complete game and allowed a combined two earned runs (a 0.67 ERA), 14 hits, and just one walk.

The Royals struggled to make headway in the divisional race through June and into late July. Between May 30 and July 21 they were 21-25 and fell to 7½ games behind the Angels. With New York arriving in Kansas City to start a six-game home series on Monday, July 22, the Royals began a seven-game winning streak which was the longest in the season to that point. Dan Quisenberry picked up his 19th, 20th, and 21st saves as the Royals swept the Yankees, and he put in relief appearances in three of the next four games—picking up two more saves. On July 29, the Angels' lead had shrunk to 2½ games. They would remain there through September 1 as the Royals were 16-14 during that period and the Angels were 17-15.

The eight-game winning streak (all at home) between September 2 and September 8 was the longest of the season for the Royals. The streak included three games in extra innings. After winning five of their next seven games, the Royals achieved a 2½ game lead over the Angels on September 15. However, the Mariners who had given them trouble earlier in the year—winning five of their six previous contests—shut out the Royals twice in a four-game sweep in Kansas City, dropping the Royals into a tie for first place on September 19. Winning just four of their next nine games, the Royals dropped a game behind the Angels on September 29.

After being swept at home in three games by the Twins and with only seven games remaining in the regular season, the Royals faced a four-game series at home versus the Angels. On September 30 the Royals won the first game 3-1 with Saberhagen pitching a complete game and giving up just one run on a home run by Doug DeCinces. Saberhagen collected ten strikeouts in the game and allowed only seven batters to reach first base. The Angels claimed the following game on October 1 by the score of 4-2 with Mike Witt pitching. The Royals won the third game on October 2 with Black pitching a complete game shut out and allowing only five batters to reach first base. Three of the four runs scored by the Royals came in the bottom of the first inning with no outs as George Brett hit an inside-the-park home run to center field with two runners on base. The final game of the series on October 3 was won 4-1 by the Royals with Quisenberry recording the final out of the game and his 36th save of the season. Starting pitcher Danny Jackson had given up just one run in 8⅔ innings despite allowing 11 hits. The Royals' runs came on three home runs by Frank White, Steve Balboni, and Brett. With the win, the Royals had a one game lead on the Angels.

The Royals hosted the Athletics for the final three games of the season while the Angels traveled to Arlington Stadium to battle the Rangers. On October 4, the Royals defeated the Athletics by the score of 4-2, and the Angels were shut out 6-0 by the Rangers' starting pitcher Dave Schmidt. This gave the Royals a two game lead and assured them of at least a tie for first. The division championship was claimed in a dramatic fashion on the following day as the Royals come from behind to defeat the Athletics in ten innings by the score of 5-4. The final game of the season on October 6 was a loss, and the Royals finished the season with a record of 91-71 (.562).

"More scores to come soon..."

Postseason

ALCS

World Series

With the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the National League Championship Series, the 1985 World Series was destined to become one of the most memorable series for the cross-state rivals. It was popularly known as the "Show-Me Series" (Missouri is "the Show-Me State") and the "I-70 Series".

As they had done in the ALCS, the Royals lost three of their first four games with the Cardinals. The key game in the Royals' comeback was Game 6, a game famous for umpire errors. A blown call in the 4th inning cost the Royals their closest scoring opportunity when Frank White was mistakenly called out after stealing second, and the next batter, Pat Sheridan, got a hit. Facing elimination, the Royals trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning before rallying to score two runs and win. In what has been called "one of the most controversial and famous plays in Series history", [Cite web| url=http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/baseballs_best/mlb_bb_gamepage.jsp?story_page=bb_85ws_gm6_stlkcr| title=Bad Call Gives Royals New Life| date=October 26, 1985| publisher=MLB.com| accessdate=2007-01-10|] Jorge Orta led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground ball to Cardinal first baseman Jack Clark, who flipped the ball to pitcher Todd Worrell covering first. First base umpire Don Denkinger called Orta safe, but television replays later showed that Worrell had beaten him to the base. The call shifted momentum of the Series to the Royals and following the tension and frustration of Game 6, the Cardinals came undone in Game 7. The Royals' Bret Saberhagen pitched a five-hit shutout, allowing the Royals to win 11-0 and clinch the franchise's first World Series title.

Free agents

After the season these players became free agents:
*Dane Iorg, signed with the San Diego Padres
*Lynn Jones, re-signed
*Hal McRae, re-signed
*Jamie Quirk, re-signed

Player stats

Batting

"Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In"

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

Awards and honors

;Cy Young Award : Bret Saberhagen;Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award : Dan Quisenberry;ALCS MVP : George Brett;Gold Glove Award : Third base—George Brett;Silver Slugger Award : Third base—George Brett;Executive of the Year : General Manager John Schuerholz

Records and milestones

Batting

Triples
*Willie Wilson set the Royals single season record with 21 triples.

Home runs
*Steve Balboni set the Royals single season record with 36 home runs.

Strikeouts
*Steve Balboni set the Royals single season record with 166 strikeouts.

Pitching

Games pitched
*Dan Quisenberry set the Royals single season record with 84 games pitched and finished the season with 444 on the all-time Royals list, passing Paul Splittorff (with 429) for first place.

Saves
*Dan Quisenberry, first on the all-time Royals list, finishes the season with 217.

References

*Cite web| url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/KCR/1985.shtml| title=1985 Kansas City Royals Statistics and Roster| publisher=Baseball-Reference.com| accessdate=2007-01-10|
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1985&t=KCA 1985 Kansas City Royals team page at www.baseball-almanac.com] Notes:succession box
title = AL West Championship Season
years = 1985
before = Kansas City Royals
1984
after = California Angels
1986succession box
title = American League Championship
years = 1985
before =Detroit Tigers
1984
after = Boston Red Sox
1986succession box
title = World Series Champions
Kansas City Royals
years = 1985
before = Detroit Tigers
1984
after = New York Mets
1986